Timeline of American poetry
by George J. Dance This Timeline of American poetry contains the significant events in the history of American poetry in English (and selected events in the history of American poetry in other languages), mostly original publications of books, from the beginning until 2010. English-language books of poetry (not counting anthologies) have been limited to 3 per year. 18th century 1772 - Philip Freneau, The American Village 1773 - Phillis Wheatley, Poems on Various Subjects 1786 - Philip Freneau, Poems: Written chiefly during the late war 19th century 1806 - Philip Freneau, Poems 1829 - George Moses Horton, The Hope of Liberty *Edgar Allan Poe, Al Araaf, Tamerlane, and minor poems 1837 - George Moses Horton, Poems by a Slave 1838 - John Greenleaf Whittier, Poems 1839 - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Voices of the Night 1842 - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Poems on Slavery / Ballads, and other poems 1844 - Christopher Pearse Cranch, Poems *James Russell Lowell, Poems 1847 - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline: A tale of Acadie *Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven, and other poems 1848 - James Russell Lowell, The Biglow Papers / The Vision of Sir Launfal 1855 - Paul Hamilton Hayne, Poems *Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass (1st edition) 1858 - Edgar Allan Poe, Poetical Works 1860 - Henry Timrod, Poems *Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass (3rd edition) *'1863' - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Tales of a Wayside Inn 1866 - Margaret Deland, The Old Garden, and other verses *John Greenleaf Whittier, Snow-Bound: A Winter Idyl 1867 - Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass (4th edition) 1871 - Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass (5th edition) 1872 - Paul Hamilton Hayne, Legends and Lyrics *Henry Timrod, Poems (edited by (Paul Hamilton Hayne) 1876 - Ralph Waldo Emerson, Selected Poems 1877 - Sidney Lanier, Poems 1881 - Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass (6th edition) 1882 - Paul Hamilton Hayne, Poems (complete edition) 1883 - Jones Very, Poems 1855 - James Russell Lowell, Under the Old Elm, and other poems 1890 - Gertrude Hall, Verses *John Greenleaf Whittier, At Sundown, and other poems 1891 - Emily Dickinson, Poems 1892 - Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass (deathbed edition) 1895 - Henry David Thoreau, Poems of Nature 20th century 1911-1920 1909 - Theodosia Garrison, The Joy o'Life, and other poems 1915 - Edgar Lee Masters, Spoon River Anthology 1917 - Theodosia Garrison, The Dreamers, and other poems *John Reed, Tamburlane, and other verses 1918 - Poetry Society of America sponsors Pulitzer Prize in Poetry (in 1918 and 1919) * Sara Teasdale, Love Songs 1919 - Carl Sandburg, Corn Husker *'Margaret Widdemer', Old Road to Paradise 1921-1930 1922 - annual Pulitzer Prize in Poetry 1st awarded *Edwin Arlington Robinson, Collected Poems 1923 - Edna St. Vincent Millay, The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver / A Few Figs from Thistles 1924 - Robert Frost, New Hampshire Pulitzer Prize in Poetry winner. Poetry, the Pulitzer Prizes. Web, June 4, 2018. 1925 - Countee Cullen, Colour *Edwin Arlington Robinson, The Man Who Died Twice 1926 - Langston Hughes, The Weary Blues *Amy Lowell, What's O'Clock 1927 - Leonora Speyer, Fiddler's Farewell 1928 - Edwin Arlington Robinson, Tristram 1929 - Stephen Vincent Benét, John Brown's Body 1930 - Conrad Aiken, Selected Poems 1931-1940 1931 - Robert Frost, Collected Poems 1932 - George Dillon, The Flowering Stone 1933 - Robert Hillyer, Collected Verse 1934 - Archibald MacLeish, Conquistador 1935 - Audrey Wurdmann, Bright Ambush 1936 - Robert P.T. Coffin, Strange Holiness 1937 - Robert Frost, A Further Range 1938 - Marya Zaturenska, Cold Morning Sky 1939 - John Gould Fletcher, Selected Poems 1940 - Mark Van Doren, Collected Poems 1941-1950 1941 - Leonard Bacon, Sunderland Capture 1942 - William Rose Benét, The Dust Which is God 1943 - Robert Frost, A Witness Tree 1944 - Stephen Vincent Benét, Western Star 1945 - Karl Shapiro, V-Letter, and other poems 1947 - Robert Lowell, Lord Weary's Castle 1948 - W.H. Auden, The Age of Anziety *Ezra Pound, The Pisan Cantos 1949 - Peter Viereck, Terror and Decorum 1950 - Gwendolyn Brooks, Annie Allen * William Carlos Williams, Paterson: Book III / Selected Poems''National Book Award winner for poetry. Source: "The National Book Awards: Winners and finalists since 1950, National Book Foundation. Web, Aug. 24, 2018. 1951-1960 '''1951' - Carl Sandburg, Complete Poems *Wallace Stevens, Auroras of Autumn 1952 - Marianne Moore, Collected Poems 1953 - Archibald MacLeish, Collected Poems, 1917-1952 1954 - Conrad Aiken, Collected Poems *Theodore Roethke, The Waking 1955 - Jack Kerouac, Mexico City Blues *Wallace Stevens, Collected Poems 1956 - Elizabeth Bishop, Poems North and South / A Cold Spring *Allen Ginsberg, Howl, and other poems 1957 - Richard Wilbur, Things of This World 1958 - Lawrence Ferlinghetti, A Coney Island of the Mind *Robert Penn Warren. Promises: Poems, 1954-1956 1959 - Stanley Kunitz, Selected Poems, 1928-1958 *Theodore Roethke, Words for the Wind *Delmore Schwartz, Summer Knowledge: New and selected poems 1960 - Weldon Kees, Collected Poems *Robert Lowell, Life Studies *W.D. Snodgrass, Heart's Needle 1961-1970 1961 - Randall Jarrell, The Woman at the Washington Zoo *Phyllis McGinley, Times Three: Selected poetry from three decades *Yvor Winters, Collected Poems 1962 - Alan Dugan, Poems 1963 - Arna Bontemps, Personals *William Stafford, Travelling through the Dark *William Carlos Williams, Pictures from Brueghel 1964 - John Crowe Ransom, Selected Poems *Louis Simpson, At the End of the Open Road 1965 - John Berryman, 77 Dream Songs *Theodore Roethke, The Far Field 1966 - James Dickey, Buckdancer's Choice *Richard Eberhart, Selected Poems 1967 - Rod McKuen, Listen to the Warm *James Merrill, Nights and Days *Anne Sexton, Live or Die 1968 - Robert Bly, The Light around the Body *Anthony Hecht, The Hard Hours *Rod McKuen, Lonesome Cities 1969 - John Berryman, His Toy, His Dream, His Rest *George Oppen, Of Being Numerous 1970 - Elizabeth Bishop, Complete Poems *Richard Howard, Untitled Subjects 1971-1980 1971 - W.S. Merwin, The Carrier of Ladders *Mona Van Duyn, To See, to Take 1972 - Howard Moss, Selected Poems *Frank O'Hara, Collected Poems *James Wright, Collected Poems 1973 - A.R. Ammons, Collected Poems, 1951-1971 *Maxine Kumin, Up Country 1974 - Allen Ginsberg, The Fall of America: Poems of these states, 1965-1971 *Robert Lowell, The Dolphin *Adrienne Rich, Diving into the Wreck: Poems, 1971-1972 1975 - Marilyn Hacker, Presentation Piece *Gary Snyder, Turtle Island 1976 - John Ashbery, Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror 1977 - Richard Eberhart, Collected Poems, 1930-1976 *James Merrill, Divine Comedies *Frank Stanford, The Battlefield Where The Moon Says I Love You 1978 - Howard Nemerov, Collected Poems 1979 - Robert Penn Warren, Now and Then *James Merrrill, Mirabell: Books of Number 1980 - Donald Justice, Selected Poems *Philip Levine, Ashes 1981-1990 1981 - Carolyn Forché, The Country between Us *Lisel Mueller, The Need to Hold Still *James Schuyler, The Morning of the Poem 1982 - William Bronk, Life Supports: New and selected poems *Sylvia Plath, Collected Poems 1983 - Elizabeth Bishop, The Complete Poems, 1927-1979 *Galway Kinnell, Selected Poems *Charles Wright, Country Music: Selected early poems 1984 - Mary Oliver, American Primitive 1985 - Carolyn Kizer, Yin 1986 - Henry Taylor, The Flying Change 1987 - Rita Dove, Thomas and Beulah *Charles Olson, Collected Poems 1988 - William Meredith, Partial Accounts: New and selected poems 1989 - Richard Wilbur, New and Collected Poems 1990 - Charles Simic, The World Doesn't End 1991-2000 1991 - Philip Levine, What Work Is *Mona Van Duyn, Near Changes 1992 - James Tate, Selected Poems 1993 - A.R. Ammons, Garbage *Jim Carroll, Fear of Dreaming: Selected poems *Louise Glück, The Wild Iris 1994 - Yusef Komunyakaa, Neon Vernacular: New and selected poems *Heather McHugh, Hinge and Sign: Poems, 1968-1993. *James Tate, A Worshipful Company of Fletchers 1995 - Stanley Kunitz, Passing Through: The later poems, new and selected *Philip Levine, The Simple Truth 1996 - Hayden Carruth, Scrambled Eggs and Whiskey: Poems, 1991-1995 *Jorie Graham, The Dream of the Unified Field 1997 - William Meredith, Effort at Speech: New and selected poems *Lisel Mueller, Alive Together: New and selected poems 1998 - Gerald Stern, This Time: New and selected poems *Charles Wright, Black Zodiac 1999 - Philip Booth, Lifelines: Selected poems, 1950-1999 *Mark Strand, Blizzard of One 2000 - C.K. Williams, Repair 21st century 2001-2010 2001 - Stephen Dunn, Different Hours 2002 - Carl Dennis, Practical Gods 2003 - Poetry 180: A turning back to poetry (edited by Billy Collins) *William Heyen, Shoa Train *Paul Muldoon, Moy Sand and Gravel 2004 - Franz Wright, Walking to Martha's Vineyard 2005 - Ted Kooser, Flying at Night: Poems, 1965-1985 * - Gregory Orr, Concerning the Book that is the Body of the Beloved 2006 - Claudia Emerson, Late Wife 2007 - Natasha Trethewey, Native Guard 2008 - Robert Hass, Time and Materials *Philip Schultz, Failure 2009 - W.S. Merwin, The Shadow of Sirius 2010 - Rae Armantrout, Versed See also *American poetry *List of U.S. poets References